NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: NEW YORK UP CLOSE; Suit Seeks to March the Elephants Out of the Circus

''A young child's eyes widen like saucers at the glorious wonder of majestic Asian elephants standing shoulder to shoulder in a sensational salute!''

So goes the publicity for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which is in town until mid-April. Elephant acts have long been a part of ''The Greatest Show on Earth.'' But as thousands of New Yorkers line up to see it, most are unaware of a drama that has been taking place for months behind the scenes.

Three organizations -- the Fund for Animals, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Animal Welfare Institute -- have filed a civil suit against the circus under the federal Endangered Species Act. The law prohibits killing, harming or harassing endangered species, including Asian elephants, and the suit asks that the circus be forbidden to use elephants anymore.

''It is our contention as documented through affidavits that what indeed Ringling is doing is harming, harassing and killing elephants,'' said Nancy Blaney, director of the A.S.P.C.A.'s Washington office. She said circus employees often used bull hooks, long sticks fitted with harp metal hooks, to beat the animals.

Besides affidavits by two former circus employees, plaintiffs have a videotape that shows a circus employee looking around furtively before jamming a long instrument several times into the folds of an elephant's neck.

Catherine Ort-Mabry, a spokeswoman for Feld Entertainment, the circus's parent company, said she could not talk about the case, which was filed last July in Federal District Court in Washington. But she said the company was ''very proud of our animal care.''

She added that bull hooks were commonly used ''to guide the elephant to where it needs to be'' and that the actions captured on video were ''aggressive'' and were an exception to the rule. She said the man in the video had been reprimanded but had not been taken off elephant duty.

Also, Feld has asked that the suit be dismissed because, Ms. Ort-Mabry said, ''The care of circus animals is not covered by the Endangered Species Act.'' The company's court papers also argue that the plaintiffs have no standing to bring the case. TARA BAHRAMPOUR